Tech problems might’ve overshadowed the launch of South Bend’s landlord registry.

Just a day after it went online, neighbors say they are having trouble actually registering their properties.

So now the city is working to clean up the not-so-user-friendly website.

Bill Binder is one of the vocal neighbors that got lost online.

“I’m scratching my head on this,” said Binder.

Binder is used to filling out government documents the old-fashioned way; pen to paper.

With a new online system, the learning curve for folks like Binder seems to be skewed.

“It’s frustrating but like I said, I like to keep it simple,” said Binder. “And I would figure that the city of South Bend had several months to implement this registration and they could’ve kept it simple.”

I certainly was not a short set-up process to navigate, but there are a few ways to simplify the online experience.

It’s best to have your parcel IDs for each property nearby before you start.

Once ready, you will need to create an account, then create “rows” for each owned-property and then pay the $5 fee to register successfully.

It’s not a perfect system and the city is taking notice.

“I.T. is working minute by minute on any issues that they see that they can bring up and fix,” said Tim Scott, common council president.

And those fixes could solve a much bigger problem for the city.

“This is going to streamline that process that we can get in contact and try to get resolution for any issue that might come up with rental properties,” said Scott.